


I Apologize For My Race

by thetruthrunswild



Series: The Purple Journal [6]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:10:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetruthrunswild/pseuds/thetruthrunswild
Summary: Hey white people, recognize your privilege.  Use it to eliminate it.





	I Apologize For My Race

**Author's Note:**

> Slam poem I created a couple years ago for a presentation on racism in the criminal justice system for my old ethics class. I performed it a few months later at my school's poetry slam.

I am white.  
I apologize for my race.

While black people shed tears  
And fear for the ones they hold dear  
White people will brag  
They think they’ve done their part because they tweeted the hashtag.  
Because to them it is a fad  
A trend, that for them, will end by the weekend.

I am white.  
I apologize for my race.  
I’d like to take a moment and let silence fill the space.  
…  
For us to remember the unarmed black men  
Who far too soon met their end at the hands of policewomen and men.  
Michael Brown, Dontre Hamilton, Tamir Rice, Keith Childress, Leroy Browning, Roy Nelson, Philando Castile, John Crawford III, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, Akai Gurley …  
I could go on and on apologizing for my race  
Until I am blue in the face  
Like Eric Garner was when he cried  
Not once. Not twice. Not three times.  
But eleven times!  
He cried for his life  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”  
“I can’t breathe!”

I am white.  
I apologize for my race.  
And while other members of my race  
Will go and victim blame  
We will stay here and say her name  
Sandra Bland, Tanisha Anderson, Yvette Smith, Miriam Corey, Darnisha Harris, Shelly Frey, Natasha McKenna, Jonisha Fonville, Shantel Davis, Malissa Williams, Alesia Thomas …  
Stop the victim blame.  
And say their names.

I am white.  
I apologize for my race.  
And I know that because of my race  
I will never need to fear  
That I will hear  
The sound of an officer’s gun pointed at me  
Solely due to the color that they see  
Of the skin that covers me.

I know that because of my race  
I will never have to face  
An officer profile me  
Due to the color that they see  
Of the skin that covers me.  
I can walk down the street  
Worry-free  
That I will be stopped by an officer  
Because my profile seems “suspicious” to him or her.

I know that because of my race  
I would be less likely to face  
A longer, harsher prison sentence  
As the court system would be more likely to believe in my repentance.  
Despite being a part of the largest racial group in the USA  
As a white woman I’d be a small minority in the prison system today.

We wonder what could be the cause of the racial inequity?  
Yet we are so quick to excuse systematic racism and police brutality.  
I know that because I am white  
I benefit from the privilege of a biased system  
But I will continue to fight  
Provide my assistance to help fix this broken system.


End file.
